BusinessWeek reports on a new online project from CBS called 'InnerTube' and ABC pulls off one of the most innovative cross platform strategies to date.
Innertube from CBS is an online channel where they will have video content that was built exclusively for the web, some shows that weren't good enough for broadcast and special features on their standard programming. The idea is good, but the execution is aweful. First of all, www.innertube.com is a tire company website. If you have the freedom to name a project whatever you want, wouldn't you choose a brand name whose url you could own? Was it so important for the name to be similar to YouTube? Secondly, it is very slow to load even on my super high speed access at the office. Grade: B-, and you score a C just for the effort.
ABC, on the other hand, took a huge chance and published full versions of their hottest shows on their site. They are free, but are brought to you with "limited interruption" by one exclusive advertiser. These advertisers seem to rotate when you go from show to show, but own the entire episode. Some advertisers are repurposing tv ads (zyrtec), while others (Suave) made custom animated ads for this project.
ABC scores an A-. The only reason its not an A+ is because it ends June 30th.
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